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Spurs' Pipe Dreams

Well-Known Member
Aug 14, 2011
20,008
32,728
It's little things like going cheap on targets.. Janssen was the cheap alternative to Batshuayi, then we had to buy Llorente to make up for that fuck up.. End of it we spent the same amount of money we wouldn't do for Bats. Same thing happened with Nkoudou, Njie, finally just bought Lucas for decent money. There are players out there who can provide depth that don't cost 100 mil.

Where's Batshuayi he can't even displace a shit striker like Morata, shiny, new and more expensive does not always mean better
 

dudu

Well-Known Member
Jan 28, 2011
5,314
11,048
That type of ambition doesn't win things though - Buying better players in positions we are weak in has more potential to win. That is where the difference of ambition lies though - Levy see's a different ambition to that of the fans. There are many on here and Spurs fans, in general, that think that having a bigger stadium will automatically give us the ability to get better players by being able to pay them more, it won't - consequently, ENIC see the stadium as a business opportunity that they have developed to sell, along with the club. Ambition can mean different things to different people, just a shame ENIC are not singing from the same hymn sheet that the fans are...

1) the stadium isn't even built yet. Our consistently the past few years has given us the opportunity to pay our players wages that their talent deserves.....something we were being reemed for not being able to do by every pundit in the country last year. Everyone on here was outraged at that and I'm sure a fair few said that we need to show ambition by doing so which we have.

2) we are all disappointed that we didn't strengthen our squad, I am not patting anyone on the back for our failure to do so. We are no weaker than we were and in fact we may even be stronger as a unit despite still having some weaknesses in the squad.

I'm sure ENIC want to maximise their profit for if/when they want to sell but let's be honest, we aren't really about to languish mid-table are we. We have every chance of challenging. All the teams that have stregthened around us have done so with us barely doing so before and we have finished above each of them the last few years.
 

Spurs' Pipe Dreams

Well-Known Member
Aug 14, 2011
20,008
32,728
Batshuayi would have been a far better fit than Llorente or Janssen. And Morata isn't shit.

He really is, 11 league goals last season. Most he's ever scored is 15 in Spain and Italy even Soldado has managed 20+ in la Liga and Ronaldo & Messi regularly score 30-40

edit - he may have been a better fit (Bats) but we'll never know
 

KILLA_SIN

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2008
7,812
14,452
We had been finishing above City - then they sorted their weaknesses out and clicked

Liverpool have gone a long way to solving this big weaknesses just by signing a competent keeper

We haven’t addressed any of ours

Did Liverpool sign any defenders, that's still there major weakness.
 

Snarfalicious

Well-Known Member
Jul 15, 2012
15,710
71,938
When you look at this window, I think it's important that you look at the ones from the past couple of seasons to really see how we got here. I understand "waiting for the deal." It's not a hard concept to grasp, but it doesn't exist when a majority of your business is going to happen outside of the PL and you're dealt with a significant disadvantage when your window shuts 3 weeks prior to anyone else. The days of hoping club's get antsy as the deadline approaches (PL clubs notwithstanding), are over.

Because of our "waiting game," we've added players such as Sissoko and Llorente and now we seem to be stuck with them. Because of our questionable scouting, we've got guys like Janssen and Nkoudou who will likely be loaned out until their contracts are up in 2020 and 2021 (respectively).

Sometimes, you've just got to learn to say you messed up, you take the hit, and move on. If we didn't have offers on the table for these players, there's not much you can do. But, to play hardball over what would likely be a measly fee already, only harms the squad that should be here come the first match of the season.

We've got a ton of deadwood, and we've got a fair bit of aging deadwood, too. Injuries have piled up in preseason and we're probably going to get off to a slow start due to the World Cup Semi-Finalists not all being up to speed. We could realistically lose any shot of a title challenge within the first 4-6 matches.

Outside of complete shit footballers who the team wants to get rid of, we shouldn't be looking for deals within the EPL. Levy won't do it; he's not able to "take the L" in terms of paying over the market value to secure these talents. That part can't be faulted, as I don't just want us to blow our wad for no reason. I just don't understand why we keep trying. Martial was never happening. Zaha was never happening. Ruben Loftus-Cheek? No. These other chairmen know Levy's game and they match him at it because they know he will fold eventually. Unless an opportunity presents itself (contract expiring, etc.), it just seems like it's not a viable option for us.

Things simply have to change. If you can't improve the first XI, then go out and buy some promising youngsters and if they don't fit your plans right away, loan them out. That would at least show some forward thinking. We did absolutely nothing this window. That is just beyond ludicrous as a team that is expecting to compete for the Top 4. I think it's fairly safe to say every other team around us got better.
 

Mr Pink

SC Supporter
Aug 25, 2010
54,776
99,340
@Mr Pink Just feel it usually takes a season to get used to a new stadium for most teams.

Did it take us a season to get use to Wembley? I know we'd played there before. but not on a regular basis, so for me we adapted well.

Why can't we now, with the crowd far closer cheering us on?
 

wrd

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2014
13,603
58,005
Did it take us a season to get use to Wembley? I know we'd played there before. but not on a regular basis, so for me we adapted well.

Why can't we now, with the crowd far closer cheering us on?

Well hopefully but I won't be over critical if we struggle as I've seen most other teams struggle also but as you say the fact we swapped stadiums once already should mean we are more adept at settling in.
 

fridgemagnet

Well-Known Member
Jan 18, 2009
2,410
2,864
Why are the only options mentally weak players or those who are happy to play a bit part? How about great players who compete with Eriksen, Son, Kane, whoever.

I swear that some peoole think our first team is made up of undroppable world class superstars. We've won nothing!

How do we sign these great players to a team that's won nothing, we aren't batting with the the same size club as other teams, we can't outspend them yet, we can't or won't deal with the agents that facilitate these moves, our only option is sell them the "project" or out bat them another way.

It's not that I think we have a team filled with undroppable stars but if we can't get into a bidding war that means leaving it to the last second and not giving rivals a sniff, who knows how close we've actually come to some of these great players you speak of?

We have a Waitrose/Sainsbury's budget for purchases with until recently a Tescos budget for wages (depending on who you believe) but we love to window shop at Fortnum & Mason for large periods of the transfer window, the problem seems to be our club card isn't compatible when we try to checkout, sometimes it's wages, sometimes it's fee, sometimes it's Levy's short arms and deep pockets.

Who you believe is up to you; all I will say is when has our transfer budget ever truly been a matter of public knowledge, excluding the Bale window. Look at that window as a how not to spend £100 million.
Our shopping needs to be creative but for some reason this window either fucked up or was perfectly executed (my guess would be the truth is in the middle) don't lose any of our best players but try to find the odd "golden BB"
 

mrlilywhite

Well-Known Member
Sep 1, 2008
3,174
4,992
1) the stadium isn't even built yet. Our consistently the past few years has given us the opportunity to pay our players wages that their talent deserves.....something we were being reemed for not being able to do by every pundit in the country last year. Everyone on here was outraged at that and I'm sure a fair few said that we need to show ambition by doing so which we have.

2) we are all disappointed that we didn't strengthen our squad, I am not patting anyone on the back for our failure to do so. We are no weaker than we were and in fact we may even be stronger as a unit despite still having some weaknesses in the squad.

I'm sure ENIC want to maximise their profit for if/when they want to sell but let's be honest, we aren't really about to languish mid-table are we. We have every chance of challenging. All the teams that have stregthened around us have done so with us barely doing so before and we have finished above each of them the last few years.
I think you missed my point(s).

1. The reference to the stadium was that prior to it being built, many thought that it would give us the financial leverage to compete with the bigger spending clubs, both in transfers and wages. We have what 2-3 players earning over 100k pwk - We have done so with a certain degree of sacrifice because to lose the likes of Kane, Eriksen, etc would be catastrophic for ENIC. We won't be competing with Liverpool, City, United or Chelsea finacially anytime soon just because we have a bigger stadium. That level of investment needs to come from elsewhere.

2. We most certainly are weaker and I think the impact of the transfer window & world cup will affect us for the season - so no I do think we are weaker.

My point about ENIC was that their ambition only aligned itself with the fans to get to where they are now - right now we are at a pivotal time in our history in terms of what could be or not. ENIC staying around without further significant investment into the sporting side of the club will only serve to hurt our ambition as a sporting interest. The stadium has been their goal of realising their business ambitions. That is why I feel our ambition will start to stagnate if ENIC doesn't sell, or can't sell. For all the rumour of £150m to spend, nothing was realised. If this transfer window isn't a sign of ENIC's intent, then I don't know what is?

Edit: I will add that your point regarding hardly spending in relation to our rivals also represents an element of bad decisions by our rivals. Chelsea and Arsenal, for example, languished last season through various problems of their own doing - I expect that to be rectified this time around. Liverpool would have finished above us if they were not so busy competing in the CL final - something we can only dream of at the moment. That is 3 teams that if they have good seasons could push us into 5th place - not including Utd who could finish above us - with City my tip to walk the PL. We could be a top 6 side come may...
 
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SpartanSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
12,552
43,063
@Mr Pink Just feel it usually takes a season to get used to a new stadium for most teams.

Atletico did pretty well last season in the league

P19 W12 D6 L1 GF30 GA (8!)*

*this was actually 4 around the time of the EL semi final vs Arsenal

They finished 2nd
 

spursdon1

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2014
119
633
More concerningly where are Eriksen and Alli's contracts?
One of the journos released an interview with Vorm earlier this week. They spoke about his contract extension which was announced in June. In the interview he mentioned it was all done in April. So they obviously do delay announcing contracts.
 

wrd

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2014
13,603
58,005
Atletico did pretty well last season in the league

P19 W12 D6 L1 GF30 GA (8!)*

*this was actually 4 around the time of the EL semi final vs Arsenal

They finished 2nd

Yeah they were good but considering we seem to be morphing into Arsenal I remember the struggles they had at the Emirates early on.
 
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